US should understand value of partnership: Khurshid

December 21, 2013 16:43 IST

India and the US are in "conversations" to resolve the standoff over diplomat Devyani Khobragade, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Saturday said as he described the US as a valuable partner and asked it to "understand the value" of the partnership.

"We are in a conversation at different levels. Let the conversation go to its logical conclusion," he told reporters on the sidelines of a FICCI event.

The minister further emphasised, "We have an extremely exceptionally valuable relationship with the US and I do believe that they have similar sentiments about us...and it must understand value of partnership."

39-year-old Khobragade, a 1999-batch IFS officer posted as Deputy Consul General in New York, was taken into custody last week on visa fraud charges as she was dropping her daughter to school before being released on a USD 250,000 bond after pleading not guilty in court.

Khobragade was put through both strip and cavity searches, procedures normally used for criminals, evoking a sharp reaction from India.

India had demanded that the case against Khobragade be dropped unconditionally.

The minister also said by arresting the senior diplomat, the channels of communication got interrupted which was a matter of "concern".

"..I speak to America through diplomatic channels and my diplomatic channels have been interrupted. That is my concern. That was my agony that my diplomatic channel has been interrupted," Khurshid said.